**updated**-Dave Ramsey anyone?

I tip my hat to y'all that are or are near debt free. I'm struggling with it now. Have an overwhelming amount of credit card debt that I've been working on paying for almost a year but its going to be a while before I'm done. I doubt I ever shoot for debt free but after recently shedding a lot of debt I'm definitely planning to keep it in check.
 
BigBody79 said:
What are his/your feeling on a home equity loan for major house construction/remodeling?
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If it's a run-down crack house in a nice neighborhood, then YES!. You can recoup at sale time. Otherwise, you put 50k into a decent house, you might increase the sale value by 15k. You'd have to assign other, intangible value to the deal (like keeping kids in the same school district, etc).
 
Must be mattress season. We just ordered on to replace our 15 year old mattress.
 
This time last year me and my wife used our combined Christmas money to purchase a new mattress. That was very much worth it.

Speaking of mattresses, I wish I'd got on board with the mattress train a few years ago opened my own store. There is a mattress place popping up on every corner! A guy at my church works at a mattress manufacturer and says there is nearly a 1000% markup on them....
 
YotaOnRocks said:
I tip my hat to y'all that are or are near debt free. I'm struggling with it now. Have an overwhelming amount of credit card debt that I've been working on paying for almost a year but its going to be a while before I'm done. I doubt I ever shoot for debt free but after recently shedding a lot of debt I'm definitely planning to keep it in check.
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We made it into sort of a game. See how skinny we can live, find every possible trick to save money, attack debt like it owes you money LOL

After a while, it just becomes second nature.
 
To the OP, you are not alone, you are just becoming part of what I believe to be a very small percentage of the population who actual spend less than they make. I'm not really aware of what Dave Ramsey's plan is and have never listened/watched him, but I have heard of him. I consider my wife and I both to be ‘savers’. I have never followed any particular financial plan. I have always just spent less than I have made and invested the rest. I think I am that way because of watching and listening to my father while I was growing up and also hearing about my grandfather who I never really got to know. I’ve only had a car loan once in my life, and that was for a month, lol. When we bought my mini-van we put about 50% down and financed the rest. About a month later my wife told me that she said fawk it and cut a check to pay it off. I have always bought used cars, and have never owned a new car myself. Rockcity makes a good point about borrowing for cheap (if you can) and then investing the money you would have used to pay cash for the vehicle. If I were to ever buy an expensive vehicle like a new diesel truck (most likely will never happen), then I might consider doing that. Otherwise I prefer a house to be the only thing I borrow money for.

You mention friends and family not understanding your financial goals. When I was back in my 20's, I had to stop hanging out with some of my friends due to their spending habits.
 
It's all about delayed gratification. I'm willing to tough it out now, and be better off later.

I know several people who drive nice shiny new trucks but they can barley afford them in reality. I don't wanna live like that. I want peace of mind and financial security, I want to give my kids a good college fund, and break the cycle in my family of just living paycheck to paycheck. In 5 years I see myself with a good tow rig and a 1 ton rig and ability to go on a good trip every other month, while also having the funds to give to those in need and not expect anything in return. The Lord gives me and my wife the money we have, I want to be wise with it, give Him what's his plus more, and give to those in need.
 
my dad had a CJ5 when I was born and I was basically raised in them, and KNEW that I was going to get the last remaining one in the stable the day that I came home from the DMV with my license. but nooooo, at that very moment it was being driven away by another teenager in town. he had sold it because it was the only thing that I truly wanted, and would aspire to work HARD for. About the time that the cj5 left, a brand shiny new gravely mower showed up with a used trailer. he had sold the cj and gave me not a car, but means to EARN a car. he knew that school was as important as work, so IF I keep up my grades and let me use his truck to tow the trailer and mow yards AFTER school and during summer. I worked my ass off and at the end of summer I paid $5k cash for a beautiful 84 CJ7. that was the best lesson he ever taught me. work hard for what you want, there is no shame in it. nobody is above hard work and sacrifice. I worked hard and expanded the yard work business and paid for all of my expenses besides tuition at ASU. after that, I got seriously hurt in a wheeling accident and had $16 to my name. I got my $hit together and worked ANY job I could find and did anything legal to earn every dollar I could get my hands on. Dads lesson served me well. we now have $0 debt and plan on early retirement- maybe.
 
shawn said:
If you use your debit card for everyday purchases, you're a fucking idiot.

I've had credit card numbers stolen often enough to know that even though it all works out in the end, its a huge pain in the ass, and the account is locked out for a week or two. The only time my debit card comes out of my pocket is at the bank.
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I laughed at this when I first read it, cause I use my debit card all the time and have never had a problem.

I'll be GD if tonight my wife's debit card gets declined at the local Wally World. She's like WTH?? I call WF, and sure enough they had several attempted transactions on her card this morning from Seattle. They got $100 and then WF cut them off. I'm thankful they did, or they could have cleaned us out. WF killed the card and took care of the credit. Whew, that was close...

I am a fucking idiot....
 
Glad to hear that it was only a minor inconvenience. :D
 
We solely use debit cards. I have a couple credit cards that stay in the gun safe for emergencies ouside of the emergency fund. My wife and I have 3 checking/debit accounts. One is a family account that my paychecks go into and bills come out of. We each have our own account with our own debit card. This is our "allowance". I have monthy automatic transfers into our accounts from the family account. Hers is alot more than mine because she does the grocery shopping, etc. This was my way of doing the envelope method without dealing strictly in cash. The debit cards we carry usually have no more than $500 in that account. Any big family spending has to be talked about prior and we will do a transfer to that persons account. My account is my money and I can spend it how I want or save it. Her account is her money and she can spend it however she wants as long as we have food on the table. If one of us wants to make a big personal purchase, we have to save our money. That dosent come out of the family account. This has been working pretty well for us for the last 6 months.
 
Tires are done be rated so I didn't finish reading, but it helps when paying off debt to have a small saving account for certain things. For example, my wife and I have a vacation saving account. We go on a couple vacations. Went to vegas right before and while most of it was free I has no problem putting down $300 to ride through the desert for a few hours.

Setting money aside for fun things or some purchase you want, will keep you focused on the end result a little better. It may add a few months to the "debt free" end but it better than completely stopping or worse, making the debt even higher.
 
rockcity said:
2 words...

Sleep Number. :)
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I take it your happy with yours? Me and the wife considered it. Checked them out, but read bad reviews and was concerned about electrical/pump failure and being with a deflated air mattress for 2-3 days. Wound up with a traditional mattress (beauty rest). Very pleased with it.

One thing to note is if you go with a traditional mattress, get a double sided one so you can flip it. That's the life of a mattress.
 
We are thinking about going to the original mattress company sometime this week to try some out. Just stumbled on the casper mattress. Seems like an interesting concept. 100 night trial. 100% refund if not satisfied.
 
shawn said:
If you use your debit card for everyday purchases, you're a fucking idiot.

I've had credit card numbers stolen often enough to know that even though it all works out in the end, its a huge pain in the ass, and the account is locked out for a week or two. The only time my debit card comes out of my pocket is at the bank.

Credit cards have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you can be responsible with money. Ours get paid off every month, and to date, we've been paid several thousand dollars in rewards for using our cards.
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Would you consider a card with 2% cash back on all purchases, better than a card with 5% for 6 months and then 1% after?

Of course the 2% is 1% when you swipe and 1% when you pay, as well as the 5% is only for groceries, gas, and food, other purchases are 1%.

Correct me if I'm thinking wrong, but 2% back is better than investing in a short term CD, as long as no balance is carried?

I use my debit card for everything, and have luckily only had problems two times. After following this thread I'm thinking of picking up a 2% cash back card to use for all normal monthly purchases.

Not only for 2% back on everything I use my debit card for, but for the additional security/protection layer as well.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
We are thinking about going to the original mattress company sometime this week to try some out. Just stumbled on the casper mattress. Seems like an interesting concept. 100 night trial. 100% refund if not satisfied.
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We got a Casper. Look around online and you can find a $50 discount.
It's really weird how the thing comes in a box that is like 1/4 the size. It just unrolls and opens up.
You can't beat it for the price. We like it. It was a little firm for our likes, so Rachael called and they sent us a foam topper for it. Free. W/ that it is great.
Will it last > 10 years? I don't know but even if not the price/year is still better.

Selling mattresses seems like a rotten job. Low turnover item, only so many people need one and once they buy, you've lost a customer for 10 years.
 
RatLabGuy said:
You can't beat it for the price.
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Well, for starters, you can buy a spring mattress with a memory foam top (like we did) and spend .... 45% as much. That seems like a pretty compelling alternative.
 
Well guys, today is the day! We are officially debt free outside the house. Since I started this snowball (and this thread) we have paid off just about $60k in debt. This includes student loans, credit cards, a car and huge medical expenses.
During this process we strayed from doing it exactly to Daves plan. The snowball basics remained, but I do use a credit card that pays me cash back for customer entertainment and other large purchases and traveling.
Since starting we also had a child, he then needed major surgery. Then my wife was hospitalized twice, needing surgery the 2nd time. We then bought a van because my wifes car was small and had a ton of miles on it. We sold a house that required us to add money to get out from under it, bought a house that I put $10k down on. To top of all of that, I had to have knee surgery last September. For all of those medical expenses we were blessed to have money in the bank to cover everything rather than make payments (I did have to make payments for my sons surgery). So we got delayed slightly but despite all those challenges we did it!!!! AND, we are most of they way to our 6 months expense savings!

I do not share this to brag, but to encourage others. It is possible to go against the grain of this world and the main stream and live without a bunch of payments. Thank you guys for all your encouragement and advice thru this. We still have the house and have to save for college and retirement, but it is so freeing to only owe for the house. I could go back to a $15/hr job if something happened and still live comfortable because of this.

I feel strongly that God lead me and my wife to this financial wisdom. We have helped others thru this and plan to continue. We were blessed to help some very good friends out during a financial struggle. We anonymously covered some bills for them in a time of need, and being able to do that feels better than anything. We hope to share our blessings with many more people.
 
Curious to how long it took. If you don’t mind me asking, I’m getting ready to go into debt killing mode by the end of the year


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Congratulations, that's awesome! I can't believe it's been 2 years already. We were doing awesome - as of last month, we reduced debt by $71,500 :eek: (then we bought a new camper & killed some of the progress).
 
77GreenMachine said:
Well guys, today is the day! We are officially debt free outside the house. Since I started this snowball (and this thread) we have paid off just about $60k in debt.
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Loganwayne said:
Curious to how long it took.
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Just guessing here, but I'd say about 2 years.
 
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